Close inspection of 1-h time-resolved OC and EC measurements reveals many carbon transients, which were mostly attributed to local traffic emissions. In this study, only three distinct carbon pollution episodes are discussed. The first episode was characterized by smoke plumes from forest fires that occurred in southeastern China, which resulted in enhanced OC concentrations. The second episode was strongly associated with regional haze over northeastern China and local stagnation conditions, which lead to highly elevated OC and EC levels throughout the episode. The third episode occurred at the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) was related to broad OC peak and the highest short-term OC excursion over the entire study period. Back trajectory analysis and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) satellite image data were used to characterize potential source regions for the developed episodes and the transport pathways of the air masses. The measured EC concentrations for the three episodes were strongly associated with the optical EC (hod=retrieve&_udi=B6VH3-4K428VN-2&_mathId=mml1&_user=10&_cdi=6055&_rdoc=5&_handle=V-WA-A-W-AE-MsSAYWA-UUA-U-AACVDCCVWD-AACWBBZWWD-EYWVAUDAD-AE-U&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_userid=10&md5=b9cb37ab3f080b8449127550494cebb8"" title=""Click to view the MathML source"">R2